The people spoke and Lindsay Lohan listened! Lohan took her yellowed teeth to celeb-friendly cosmetic dentist Dr. Bill Dorfman, who whitened her smile.
"Thanks Dr. Dorfman for the zoom," Lohan tweeted, along with a picture of her new look. "My gums are so sore though!"
Most recently, Lohan's dental upkeep hasn't ranked among her biggest problems; Lohan's probation was revokedat an Oct. 20 court appearance, and she's due back to stand before Judge Stephanie Sautner on Tuesday.
New York ? The GOP presidential frontrunner always said that man-made pollution played a role in global warming. Has he suddenly changed his mind?
Once again, Mitt Romney is being accused of flip-flopping. As governor of Massachusetts, and later as a 2008 GOP presidential candidate, the Republican said he believed that man-made pollution was contributing to a planetary warming trend. But on the campaign trail last week, Romney seemed to soften that stance, saying that "we don't know what's causing climate change," and "the idea of spending trillions and trillions of dollars to try to reduce CO2 emissions is not the right course for us." Has Romney decided that the scientific consensus on climate change is wrong?
Romney has slowly morphed into a climate-change denier: Many people now say that "Romney has flipped on climate change," says Josh Petri at Talking Points Memo. But he didn't do it overnight. The change over the last several months has been almost imperceptible. Before he hit the campaign trail in earnest, Romney said people were at least partly responsible for climate change. By August, he was sidestepping the issue, saying "he's no scientist." And now, Romney's view is that "we don't know" the cause. As flip-flops go, it's a "very slow" one. "Romney's very slow flip-flop on climate change"
This is not a big change: Sure, in these latest comments, Romney didn't "specifically mention that he believed humans are partially responsible for climate change," says Katrina Trinko in National Review. But that doesn't mean he's renounced that view. Romney has always "been careful to stress how little is known about what causes climate change and how he himself is uncertain over how much of it is caused by humans." Doesn't sound like much has changed. "Romney and climate change"
Romney's position remains "squishy": Romney might be trying to sound less "reasonable" to win over conservative climate-change deniers, says Kate Sheppard at Mother Jones. But the truth is that he has "been squishy on climate [change] for a long time." His line about how the science isn't clear is a dog whistle that tells global warming deniers that Romney is on their side. That's Mitt's trademark: "He says things that sound vaguely reasonable," then "when it comes time to actually take action, he jumps ship." "Sorry guys, Mitt has always been squishy on climate"
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LOS ANGELES?? An anesthesia expert testifying for the doctor charged in Michael Jackson's death told jurors Friday he believes the pop superstar gave himself a fatal injection of an anesthetic.
Dr. Paul White said the self-injection theory is the only one supported by the physician's statement to police and by evidence found at Jackson's rented mansion.
White said he saw no evidence supporting the prosecution theory that Jackson's doctor was infusing the singer with propofol using an IV.
The researcher said the evidence recovered in Jackson's bedroom was more consistent with the singer receiving the powerful anesthetic through an injection.
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A prosecution expert had told jurors he believed Jackson's doctor used an IV drip of propofol and said that was the only way to explain the high levels of the drug found in the singer's body.
White noted there were no IV bags or lines found in Jackson's bedroom that showed propofol residue throughout the lines. He also said the levels of propofol found in Jackson's urine did not support the IV theory.
Jackson's doctor, Conrad Murray, has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter.
White's testimony was expected to end Murray's defense case after 16 witnesses. It likely will be vigorously challenged by prosecutors, who spent four weeks laying out their case that Murray is a greedy, inept and reckless doctor who was giving Jackson propofol as a sleep aid in the singer's bedroom.
Propofol is not intended as a sleep aid and, medical groups say, should be administered only in a hospital or surgical setting with advanced monitoring equipment.
Cross-examination of White has been delayed until Monday to give prosecutors more time to review a new analysis prepared by the defense based on recently conducted tests of samples taken during Jackson's autopsy.
Video: Judge concerned about toll of trial on jury (on this page)
The judge hearing the case, which ends its fifth week Friday, reluctantly agreed to delay the cross examination and said he is concerned about losing jurors. Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor, however, noted the panel has remained rapt throughout the trial.
"Every single member of that jury and all the alternates are paying extraordinary attention to every witness," Pastor said.
White told jurors he saw no evidence that Murray left Jackson on an IV drip of propofol when he left the room and returned to find the singer unresponsive June 25, 2009.
White said the singer would have had to lie completely still to keep from disturbing the bottle under that scenario, and he has never heard of anyone using an IV saline bottle to suspend a bottle of propofol for a drip.
Slideshow: Michael Jackson's face over the years (on this page)
White noted all bottles of the drug come with a tab on the side, which can be used to hang them from an IV stand.
Defense attorney J. Michael Flanagan concluded his direct examination of White Friday morning, and the judge recessed the case until Monday.
White performed clinical studies of propofol for years before it was approved for usage by the Food and Drug Administration in 1989.
White initially was reluctant to become involved in the Jackson case. But he said after reading more than a dozen expert reports, he couldn't figure out how others came to the conclusion that Murray would have had to leave Jackson on a propofol IV drip for the singer to die with the anesthetic still coursing through his body.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
WASHINGTON ? Security has improved in Afghanistan but the insurgency's safe havens in Pakistan and the Kabul government's limitations pose significant risks to a "durable, stable Afghanistan," according to a Pentagon progress report released Friday.
More than a decade since the Sept. 11 terror attacks and the start of the Afghan war, the U.S. and its allies have reversed violent trends in much of the country and the transition to Afghan security taking the lead has begun in seven key areas, including major cities such as Kabul and Herat.
"Security gains during (the past six months) have provided a firm foundation for the transition of security responsibilities to the Afghan government" and its security forces, the report said.
However, cross-border attacks have increased in recent months due to insurgents' safe havens in Pakistan and the support they received from within its borders.
"The insurgency remains resilient and, enabled by Pakistani safe havens, continues to contest" Afghan security forces throughout the country, especially in the east, the report said.
The Pentagon sent the semi-annual report to Congress, and The Associated Press obtained a copy from congressional officials.
The Unites States has some 100,000 troops in Afghanistan and plans to bring most forces home by the end of 2014. President Barack Obama announced this past summer that 10,000 troops will be redeployed by the end of the year. The 33,000 troops that Obama sent as a surge force will be out by the end of September 2012, leaving about 68,000 troops.
"Transition remains on track with no demonstrated effort by the insurgency to target the process," the report said.
The latest progress report ? the last one was in April ? strikes a more critical tone than previous Pentagon reports about Pakistan's failure to crack down on insurgent safe havens along the border with Afghanistan, arguing that these havens enable militants considered the greatest threat to American troops.
The report said the relationship between Afghanistan and Pakistan had improved early on, but several events severely strained the ties. Most notably was the May 2 U.S. raid deep inside Pakistan that led to the death of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.
Cross-border attacks diminished in August, but high-profile attacks in September, including the assault on the U.S. embassy in Kabul, were a significant setback.
The report said these attacks "were carried out by the Haqqani network and directly enabled by Pakistani safe haven and support."
The United States in recent weeks has stepped up criticism of Pakistan and its counterterrorism cooperation but has at the same time sought to cajole the increasingly angry and resistant Pakistanis into doing more. As tensions rose between Washington and Islambad, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton delivered an unusually blunt warning to the Pakistanis, saying during a visit to Kabul last week that they "must be part of the solution" to the Afghan conflict.
Clinton said the Obama administration expects the Pakistani government, military and intelligence services to "take the lead" in not only fighting insurgents based in Pakistan but also in encouraging Afghan militants to reconcile with Afghan society. She said the U.S. would go it alone if Pakistan chose not to heed the call.
After leaving Kabul, Clinton made the same points to Pakistani officials in Islamabad, where she led a high-level U.S. team, including CIA director David Petraeus, seeking to repair badly strained ties. Those meetings appear to have dulled the intensity of Pakistan's anger but there has not yet been any clear sign that the crisis is over.
Clinton told a congressional committee on Thursday that while the administration has reached out to the Taliban-linked Haqqani network, it is also pressuring Pakistan to do more to crack down on the militant group.
Last month, then-Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen said the Haqqani network, which is affiliated with the Taliban and al-Qaida, "acts as a veritable arm" of Pakistan's intelligence agency. Mullen accused the network of staging an attack against the U.S. Embassy and NATO headquarters in Kabul on Sept. 13 as well as a truck bombing that wounded 77 American soldiers. He claimed Pakistan's spy agency helped the group.
The report identified chronic problems with the Afghan government, including widespread corruption, delays in reforms and political disputes.
___
Associated Press reporter Matthew Lee contributed to this story.
LOS ANGELES ? With dramatic courtroom testimony, attorneys for Michael Jackson's doctor have dropped the bombshell they've been hinting at for months ? an expert opinion accusing the singer of causing his own death.
Dr. Paul White said Jackson injected himself with a dose of propofol after an initial dose by Dr. Conrad Murray wore off. He also calculated that Jackson gave himself another sedative, lorazepam, by taking pills after an infusion of that drug and others by Murray failed to put him to sleep.
That combination of drugs could have had "lethal consequences," the defense team's star scientific witness said Friday.
Murray has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter.
White showed jurors a series of charts and simulations he created in the past two days to support the defense theory. He also did a courtroom demonstration of how the milky white anesthetic propofol could have entered Jackson's veins in the small dose that Murray claimed he gave the insomniac star.
White said he accepted Murray's statement to police that he administered only 25 milligrams of propofol after a night-long struggle to get Jackson to sleep with infusions of other sedatives.
"How long would that (propofol) have had an effect on Mr. Jackson?" asked defense attorney J. Michael Flanagan.
"If you're talking effect on the central nervous system, 10 to 15 minutes max," White said.
He then said Jackson could have injected himself with another 25 milligrams during the time Murray has said he left the singer's room.
"So you think it was self-injected propofol between 11:30 and 12?" asked Flanagan.
"In my opinion, yes," White said.
The witness, one of the early researchers of the anesthetic, contradicted testimony by Dr. Steven Shafer, his longtime colleague and collaborator. Shafer earlier testified Jackson would have been groggy from all the medications he was administered during the night and could not have given himself the drug in the two minutes Murray said he was gone.
"He can't give himself an injection if he's asleep," Shafer told jurors last week. He called the defense theory of self-administration "crazy."
White's testimony belied no animosity between the two experts, who have worked together for 30 years. Although White was called out by the judge one day for making derogatory comments to a TV reporter about the prosecution case, White was respectful and soft spoken on the witness stand.
When Flanagan made a mistake and called him "Dr. Shafer" a few times, White said, "I'm honored."
The prosecution asked for more time to study the computer program White used before cross-examining him. Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor granted the request, saying he too was baffled by the complicated simulations of Jackson's fatal dose. He recessed court early and gave prosecutors the weekend to catch up before questioning White on Monday.
The surprise disclosure of White's new theory caused a disruption of the court schedule, and the judge had worried aloud that jurors, who expected the trial to be over this week, were being inconvenienced. But the seven men and five women appeared engaged in the testimony and offered no complaints when the judge apologized for the delay.
Prosecutors could call Shafer back during their rebuttal case to answer White's assertions.
Among the key issues is how White calculated that a large residue of propofol in Jackson's body could have come from the small dose that Murray says he administered. Shafer assumed Murray had lied, and he estimated Jackson actually was given 1,000 milligrams of the drug by Murray, who he said left the bottle running into an IV tube under the pull of gravity. White disputed that, saying an extra 25 milligrams self-administered by Jackson would be enough to reach the levels found in his blood and urine.
White also said a minuscule residue of the sedative lorazepam in Jackson's stomach convinced him the singer took some pills from a prescription bottle found in his room. He suggested the combination of lorazepam, another sedative, midazolam, plus the propofol could have killed Jackson.
"It potentially could have lethal consequences," said White. "... I think the combination effect would be very, very profound."
White's testimony was expected to end Murray's defense case after 16 witnesses. It likely will be vigorously challenged by prosecutors, who spent four weeks laying out their case that Murray is a greedy, inept and reckless doctor who was giving Jackson propofol as a sleep aid in the singer's bedroom. Experts including Shafer have said propofol is not intended to treat insomnia and should not be given in a home.
White's theory was based on urine and blood levels in Jackson's autopsy, evidence found in Jackson's bedroom and Murray's long interview with police detectives two days after Jackson died while in his care.
While accepting Murray's account of drugs he gave Jackson, the expert's calculations hinged on the invisible quotient: Jackson's possible movements while his doctor was out of the room. With no witnesses and contradictory physical evidence, that has become the key question hanging over the case.
Those who knew the entertainer in his final days offered a portrait of a man gripped by fear that he would not live up to big plans for his comeback concert and worried about his ability to perform if he didn't get sleep. He was plagued by insomnia, and other medical professionals told of his quest for the one drug he believed could help him. He called it his "milk," and it was propofol.
Jurors have now seen it up close as both Shafer and White demonstrated its potential use as an IV infusion.
With White's testimony, the defense sought to answer strong scientific evidence by the prosecution. But they did not address other questions such as allegations that Murray was negligent and acting below the standard of care for a physician.
Flanagan, the defense attorney, produced a certificate from Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas showing Murray was certified to administer moderate anesthesia, referred to as "conscious sedation." However, the document showed several requirements including that the physician "monitor the patient carefully" and "provide adequate oxygenation and ventilation for a patient that stops breathing."
Medical witnesses noted that Murray left his patient alone under anesthesia and did not have adequate equipment to revive him when he found him not breathing.
The coroner attributed Jackson's June 25, 2009, death to "acute propofol intoxication" complicated by other sedatives.
WHO'S WHO IN THE CONRAD MURRAY TRIAL:The Victim: Michael Jackon
Known Aliases: The King of Pop, Omar Arnold, Josephine Baker, Paul Farance, Bryan Singleton, and Prince - to name a few, reports TMZ.
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Jon Heyman of SI.com reports that the Tigers are expected to exercise their $9 million option on closer Jose Valverde, which is no surprise after he went 49-for-49 converting saves in the regular season.
Valverde didn?t pitch quite as well as the perfect save? percentage would suggest, posting the lowest strikeout rate (8.6 per nine innings) of his career at age 33 while walking 34 batters in 72 innings.
Toss in the abundance of quality veteran relievers on the free agent market this offseason and Valverde may not have gotten a long-term deal at $9 million per season on the open market, but for a one-year commitment that salary is much more palatable.
And while the save percentage may overrate Valverde some he?s still a damn good pitcher, with a 3.02 career ERA and marks of 2.24, 3.00, 2.33, 3.38, and 2.66 during the past five seasons. Detroit also has Papa Grande?s primary setup man, Joaquin Benoit, under contract for $5.5 million in both 2012 and 2013, so the back of the bullpen is locked in and the Tigers have an in-house replacement for Valverde should he walk after next year.
Thanks in part to strong sales of its Android-operated Galaxy S II handset, Samsung has passed Apple to become the world?s biggest seller of smartphones.
The Korean company also released figures for the third quarter on Friday, which showed a record profit generated by smartphone sales.
According to data from Strategy Analytics, Samsung took 23.8 percent of the smartphone market with 27.8 million shipments compared to Apple?s 14.6 percent with 17.1 million shipments.
This will of course come as good news for the Asian electronics giant, what with all the patent-based legal wrangling it?s currently experiencing with rival Apple. At the same time though, it?ll no doubt reinforce the Cupertino company?s determination to press on with its legal action to try to prevent the sale of many of Samsung?s devices, such as its Galaxy tablets and smartphones.
In an email statement, Strategy Analytics said of the figures, ?Samsung?s rise has been driven by a blend of elegant hardware designs, popular Android services, memorable sub-brands and extensive global distribution.?
With early sales of Apple?s new iPhone 4S looking strong, Samsung?s time at the top could be short lived. Apple will be buoyed by news that, following the lengthy service outage suffered by BlackBerry users recently, 64 percent of those considering switching to another handset said they would opt for an iPhone.
Though Samsung showed strong growth in sales of its smartphones in the third quarter, the state of its chip business was less straightforward. Profit from sales of its computer memory chips were low compared to a year earlier, though revenue generated from sales of processor chips for smartphones and tablets was strong. And to whom is it selling many of its processor chips? Why, Apple of course. Some may see the battle with Apple as a win-win situation for Samsung, with the iPhone and iPad both incorporating its components.
The Korean company was upbeat about the immediate future. ?Looking ahead into the fourth quarter ? when industry demand is traditionally at its peak ? Samsung expects sales of mobile devices to remain strong and flat panel TV shipments to increase,? the company said in its earnings statement.
[Source: Bloomberg / Reuters]
This article was originally posted on Digital Trends
The 2011 version of Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic is a different fighter in and out of the cage than we saw in the early 2000's. Whether that will lead to one final win tomorrow night is anyone's guess, but? Cro Cop is at peace with whatever happens.
"I'm relaxed, there's no pressure on me. I will do best to beat Roy, who I respect a lot. I don't want to underestimate him,"Cro Cop said during the UFC 137 press conference. "But if you ask me, this is the most important fight in my career. This will be the most important fight in my career and that's why I trained so hard for Saturday evening. I'm just looking forward to it."
Cro Cop's lost two straight and 3-of-5. More importantly, he was the victim of terrible knockout at UFC 128 at the hands of Brendan Schaub. He faces another fighter badly in need of a win in Roy Nelson. Cro Cop doesn't want to go out with three straight losses.
"[...] this could easily be my last fight in the UFC. It has nothing to do with the result, if I win or lose. Especially if I lose, but even if I win it could be my last fight in the UFC. And I'll really give my best and hope this will be an attractive fight. I cannot afford anymore, especially in this fight, that it's declared as the most boring fight of the evening like the fight with Frank Mir. I think me and Roy will perform a good fight and the fans will be satisfied and excited," said Cro Cop.
If he sounds too relaxed, don't be fooled because Cro Cop told the media on Wednesday he has some extra motivation, he wants to avoid ridicule in his home country.
"People in my country will say, 'If you beat him, you beat a fat guy', and if you lost to him they start laughing to me, 'You lost against him', but he's a super dangerous guy who can knock out anyone. Some people might be tricked by his body, but he's a dangerous guy," said Cro Cop.
Nelson is a minus-275 favorite in Las Vegas sportsbooks. A Cro Cop bet brings back plus-235.
Until that Missile Defense Shield I've heard so much about is realized, we'll just have to rely on this megawatt laser mounted on the front of a Boeing to blast warheads out of the sky. Works for me More »
Energy Secretary Steven Chu is set to testify about Solyndra on Nov. 17 before the House Energy and Commerce oversight subcommittee, an Obama administration source said Thursday evening.
We flew all the way to London and crashed on a friend's couch just to tell you all about the new hotness from Nokia. Nokia? Huh? Why? Because this is important: Windows Phone has long been a legit competitor in need of some beast hardware. More »
As breakthrough longevity technologies become available, the rich will certainly be the first to partake; they are the ones who will pay most of the early fixed costs for everything from flat-screen TVs to experimental medical treatments. Eventually, these life-extenders will reach everyone. The question is, how long will it take? If the gap between the fountain of longevity?s availability for the wealthy and accessibility for the poor is a negligible amount of time, the transition to a long-lived population will be smooth. But if the trickle-down takes a long time, we may indeed face serious social disruption?but not exactly the way In Time suggests. The movie assumes that large groups of people who know their lives could be saved will be complacent about their unnecessary deaths. In reality, those people could pick up arms and literally fight for their lives. Luckily, that scenario seems unlikely, thanks to technological progress.
ADVANCE FOR USE SUNDAY, OCT. 23, 2011 AND THEREAFTER - This photo released July 27, 2011, by the Iowa Department of Public Safety shows Tracey Ann Richter-Roberts. In 2001, Roberts fired 9 shots from two guns into Dustin Wehde, a 20-year-old neighbor who died on the floor of her bedroom. A jury will be asked to decide if she was a heroic mother who used self-defense to protect herself and her three young children from Wehde and another man who she says invaded the home, or was she a master manipulator who planned the killing and an elaborate cover story. (AP Photo/Iowa Department of Public Safety)
ADVANCE FOR USE SUNDAY, OCT. 23, 2011 AND THEREAFTER - This photo released July 27, 2011, by the Iowa Department of Public Safety shows Tracey Ann Richter-Roberts. In 2001, Roberts fired 9 shots from two guns into Dustin Wehde, a 20-year-old neighbor who died on the floor of her bedroom. A jury will be asked to decide if she was a heroic mother who used self-defense to protect herself and her three young children from Wehde and another man who she says invaded the home, or was she a master manipulator who planned the killing and an elaborate cover story. (AP Photo/Iowa Department of Public Safety)
FORT DODGE, Iowa (AP) ? Attorneys have begun whittling down the pool of potential jurors in the trial of a woman accused of murdering a man as part of a plot to frame her first husband.
Prosecutors and attorneys for Tracy Richter picked 32 of the 100 possible jurors to begin questioning Tuesday at the outset of her trial.
Richter says she fatally shot 20-year-old Dustin Wehde in 2001 after he and another man broke into her former Iowa home and assaulted her.
Prosecutors contend that Richter killed Wehde and planted a notebook in his car meant to implicate her first husband in a murder-for-hire plot.
She has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and would face a mandatory life prison term if convicted.
Look who is making a guest appearance on the SyFy hit show Ghost Hunters, Meredith Vieira. I am both surprised and intrigued this news. Who knew that former Today show host Meredith Vieira has believed in ghost since the age of 9, not me that is for sure but it is a fact my friends. Tonight fans of Meredith?s will see her in a whole new light, so to speak as she will guest star on Ghost Hunters. You can see not only see a preview of the show but a brief interview with Vieira about her time on the show below. In this particular episode Meredith and the Ghost Hunters crew head to Snug Harbor which is in Staten Island New York and are investigating a large property that has some landmark buildings which, supposedly are haunted by the spirit of a murdered laundry worker. Some things that lead the GH crew to believe it is haunted are claims of disembodied voices abound, moving furniture, and flashlights turning on and off by themselves. As for whether or not that is true you will just have to tune in to the show tonight at 9PM EST on SyFy. That is [...]
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ASHLAND, Ky. ? Country music singer Loretta Lynn was hospitalized over the weekend with the early stages of pneumonia, according to a representative of the performer.
The 76-year-old Lynn was scheduled to perform Saturday at the Performing Arts Center in Ashland, Ky. and Sunday in Durham, N.C., but the Kentucky center issued a news release saying she is in the hospital and would be unable to perform. The Kentucky theater says the show will be rescheduled.
Loretta Lynn Enterprises posted a statement on her website Saturday night that confirmed the cancellations due to illness.
"Doctors have diagnosed her as the beginning stages pneumonia, and will continue to need rest. Loretta is doing well and is disappointed but feels confident she will be ready for upcoming November dates."
Calls by The Associated Press to representatives of Lynn were not immediately returned Saturday.
In August, Lynn canceled shows because of knee surgery. Before that, she returned to live performances with a show at the Grand Ole Opry after being forced to cancel shows in Ohio and Connecticut because she was hospitalized for heat exhaustion.
The daughter of a Kentucky coal miner, Lynn had a string of hits starting in the 1960s ? "Coal Miner's Daughter," "You Ain't Woman Enough," "The Pill," and "One's on the Way." Many of her songs reflected her pride in her humble background and her experiences as a wife and mother. Her 1977 autobiography was made into a movie that brought an Oscar for Sissy Spacek's portrayal of Lynn. More recently, Lynn marked 50 years in country music and won two Grammy awards in 2005 for her album "Van Lear Rose."
'Skyscraper' singer spends time with MTV News at Texas Rangers' stadium before nailing the song at Game 5. By Gil Kaufman, with reporting by Matt Elias
Demi Lovato sings the National Anthem prior to Game 5 of the 2011 World Series Photo: MLB/Getty
Demi Lovato had a lot to celebrate on Monday night. Not only did the Texas native nail the "Star Spangled Banner" to open Game 5 of the World Series, she did it in Arlington, Texas, on a night when the Texas Rangers beat the St. Louis Cardinals to take a 3-2 lead in the fall classic.
Wearing a red Rangers jersey with a short black leather skirt and a black blazer, Lovato shook off the butterflies she was feeling earlier in the day, when she tweeted she was "so nervous/excited about tomorrow!" and did her best.
As it turns out, the19-year-old "Skyscraper" star had nothing to fear, as she confidently performed the notoriously tricky song with a touch of soul and some impressive high runs. As a bonus, unlike some notorious anthem flubs in the past, Lovato not only hit her notes, but got all the words right as well.
"The rush of going out there ... nothing compares to it. I feel like I'm about to jump out of a plane," Lovato said before her big moment, while chilling off-field with her family at the stadium. MTV News hung out with Lovato before she walked out and she told us that the sound check had gone well but she was still feeling uneasy about her opening gig. "I can't imagine how nervous I'm going to be in 15 minutes," she said, thrilled that she hadn't forgotten any of the lyrics in her first run-through.
"Getting to do this in my hometown of Dallas, Texas, is such a dream come true, because I've been to these Rangers games many times. I've sat in the nosebleed sections where you can barely see anything and now I'm going to be singing on the field," she continued. "That to me is such a dream come true and it represents my journey and how far I've come. I just feel so blessed and so thankful and so honored." She was feeling so grateful in fact, that she offered a prayer beforehand in which she thanked her fans and asked for strong vocals while praising the opportunity to sing the National Anthem.
"It's a different environment from my shows; there are people that come there to see me," she said. "Here, they are coming here to see baseball and I am actually just singing the National Anthem. So it's kind of more pressure for me to do good because I want to impress people that didn't come here to see me and I also want to impress people with a song they've heard a million, kajillion times. ... If anything, to be able to step up in front of 51,000 people is going to be incredible."
Lovato followed in the footsteps of "American Idol" winner Scotty McCreery and "New Girl" star Zooey Deschanel, who have both lent their vocals to earlier World Series games.
ARISTOTLE trial finds new drug may revolutionize the treatment of atrial fibrillationPublic release date: 26-Oct-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Amanda Bates amanda@curvecommunications.com 604-306-0027 Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada
Vancouver New research has the potential to revolutionize the treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF), a condition affecting a quarter of a million Canadians which is expected to strike even more in the coming years, as the Canadian population ages.
AF is the most common type of heart arrhythmia and puts those affected at a three to five times greater risk for stroke. Now, there is a new drug poised to battle the condition.
"The majority of patients with atrial fibrillation need an anticoagulant. The current anticoagulant can be a burden for physicians and patients due to its side effects and narrow therapeutic range," Dr. Justin Ezekowitz, from the University of Alberta, told a late breaking clinical trial session at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress 2011, co-hosted by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada and the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress. It is associated with a risk of bleeding and needs very close monitoring, whereas this new drug is taken twice a day and does not require monitoring. Our trial also shows it is not just equivalent, but better than warfarin for preventing strokes. These are important advantages."
The mainstay of treatment for AF, in which the heart's rhythm becomes very irregular and rapid, has been warfarin, an anticoagulant which has been highly effective in preventing stroke in patients with AF. However, it requires patients to come in to their doctor's office for frequent blood tests, is associated with bleeding, and it also can interact with a variety of foods and drugs that patients might also be taking.
Apixaban, a new type of oral anticoagulant known as a factor Xa inhibitor, resulted in fewer strokes (ischemic or hemorrhagic) and fewer systemic embolisms, caused less bleeding and resulted in fewer deaths in patients with atrial fibrillation, said Dr. Ezekowitz.
"We have a drug that can increase reductions in death and stroke and it is safer in terms of bleeding," says Dr. Ezekowitz. "It is also easier to use."
Dr. Ezekowitz presented the results from the large, international, multicentre Apixaban for Reduction In Stroke and Other ThromboemboLic Events (ARISTOTLE) in atrial fibrillation trial. It is the largest prospective trial yet reported for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation.
The trial randomized 18,201 patients with at least one additional risk factor for stroke, such as age greater than 75 years, prior stroke or transient ischemic attack, systemic embolism, heart failure or left ventricular ejection fraction less than 40 per cent, diabetes, or high blood pressure.
The patients came from over 1,000 sites in 39 countries. Their mean age was 70 years and 31 per cent were 75 or older. There were 19 per cent with prior stroke, 87 per cent had high blood pressure, 28 per cent had heart failure or reduced left ventricular ejection fraction, and 24 per cent had diabetesmellitus.
Canada supplied a very large cohort of 1,057 patients, said Dr. Ezekowitz, who led the Canadian arm of the trial with Dr. Paul Dorian from the University of Toronto.
The patients were randomized to apixaban 5 mg twice daily versus dose-adjusted warfarin which is often used to treat AF ? using a double-blind, double-dummy design. Warfarin or warfarin placebo was monitored adjusted to a target INR of two to three using a blinded, encrypted point-of-care device. "This was the best possible clinical trial design," says Dr. Ezekowitz.
A bit more than half of the patients (57 per cent) had used warfarin before entering the study, and 43 per cent were new to warfarin.
The patients were followed for 1.8 years, on average.
The study found that apixaban is effective at treating AF. It was also better at reducing all-cause mortality and was associated with less bleeding.
pecifically, apixaban reduced the chance of stroke and systemic embolism by 21 per cent, reduced major bleeding by 31 per cent, and reduced mortality, or all cause death, by 11 per cent.
Clinical trials have resulted in major advances in the management of AF over the past number of years," says Dr. Blair O'Neill, president of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society, which publishes the Canadian AF guidelines for clinicians. "Stroke is a major public health issue and in many instances as a result of AF. These novel anticoagulants are important advances and apply to most patients with AF."
Atrial fibrillation is becoming more common due to the aging of the population, not only in Canada but around the world.
It is also being seen in younger people due to lifestyle factors, especially stress. Also, it is increasing as cardiologists have become better at diagnosing the condition.
Some facts about atrial fibrillation:
Atrial fibrillation is associated with a four- to five-fold increased risk of ischemic stroke. It is responsible for 15 per cent to 20 per cent of all ischemic strokes.
Atrial fibrillation affects approximately 250,000 Canadians.
Atrial fibrillation is the most common arrhythmia managed by emergency physicians and accounts for approximately one-third of hospitalizations for cardiac rhythm disturbances.
Hospital admissions for atrial fibrillation have increased by 66 per cent over the past 20 years due to an aging population and a rising prevalence of chronic heart disease.
After the age of 55, the incidence of atrial fibrillation doubles with each decade of life.
After age 60, one-third of all strokes are caused by atrial fibrillation.
###
More information about the Canadian Cardiovascular Society guidelines for atrial fibrillation can be found at: http://www.ccsguidelineprograms.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=53&Itemid=65
Statements and conclusions of study authors are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect Foundation or CCS policy or position. The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada and the Canadian Cardiovascular Society make no representation or warranty as to their accuracy or reliability.
The Canadian Cardiovascular Society (ccs.ca) is the national voice for cardiovascular physicians and scientists. Its mission is to promote cardiovascular health and care through knowledge translation, professional development, and leadership in health policy.
The Heart and Stroke Foundation (heartandstroke.ca), a volunteer-based health charity, leads in eliminating heart disease and stroke and reducing their impact through the advancement of research and its application, the promotion of healthy living, and advocacy.
Gina Vesnaver
Curve Communications
gina@curvecommunications.com
office: 604-684-3170
cell: 604-317-6129
Congress information and media registration is at www.cardiocongress.org
After October 26, 2011, contact:
Jane-Diane Fraser
Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada
(613) 569-4361 ext 273, jfraser@hsf.ca
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
ARISTOTLE trial finds new drug may revolutionize the treatment of atrial fibrillationPublic release date: 26-Oct-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Amanda Bates amanda@curvecommunications.com 604-306-0027 Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada
Vancouver New research has the potential to revolutionize the treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF), a condition affecting a quarter of a million Canadians which is expected to strike even more in the coming years, as the Canadian population ages.
AF is the most common type of heart arrhythmia and puts those affected at a three to five times greater risk for stroke. Now, there is a new drug poised to battle the condition.
"The majority of patients with atrial fibrillation need an anticoagulant. The current anticoagulant can be a burden for physicians and patients due to its side effects and narrow therapeutic range," Dr. Justin Ezekowitz, from the University of Alberta, told a late breaking clinical trial session at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress 2011, co-hosted by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada and the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress. It is associated with a risk of bleeding and needs very close monitoring, whereas this new drug is taken twice a day and does not require monitoring. Our trial also shows it is not just equivalent, but better than warfarin for preventing strokes. These are important advantages."
The mainstay of treatment for AF, in which the heart's rhythm becomes very irregular and rapid, has been warfarin, an anticoagulant which has been highly effective in preventing stroke in patients with AF. However, it requires patients to come in to their doctor's office for frequent blood tests, is associated with bleeding, and it also can interact with a variety of foods and drugs that patients might also be taking.
Apixaban, a new type of oral anticoagulant known as a factor Xa inhibitor, resulted in fewer strokes (ischemic or hemorrhagic) and fewer systemic embolisms, caused less bleeding and resulted in fewer deaths in patients with atrial fibrillation, said Dr. Ezekowitz.
"We have a drug that can increase reductions in death and stroke and it is safer in terms of bleeding," says Dr. Ezekowitz. "It is also easier to use."
Dr. Ezekowitz presented the results from the large, international, multicentre Apixaban for Reduction In Stroke and Other ThromboemboLic Events (ARISTOTLE) in atrial fibrillation trial. It is the largest prospective trial yet reported for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation.
The trial randomized 18,201 patients with at least one additional risk factor for stroke, such as age greater than 75 years, prior stroke or transient ischemic attack, systemic embolism, heart failure or left ventricular ejection fraction less than 40 per cent, diabetes, or high blood pressure.
The patients came from over 1,000 sites in 39 countries. Their mean age was 70 years and 31 per cent were 75 or older. There were 19 per cent with prior stroke, 87 per cent had high blood pressure, 28 per cent had heart failure or reduced left ventricular ejection fraction, and 24 per cent had diabetesmellitus.
Canada supplied a very large cohort of 1,057 patients, said Dr. Ezekowitz, who led the Canadian arm of the trial with Dr. Paul Dorian from the University of Toronto.
The patients were randomized to apixaban 5 mg twice daily versus dose-adjusted warfarin which is often used to treat AF ? using a double-blind, double-dummy design. Warfarin or warfarin placebo was monitored adjusted to a target INR of two to three using a blinded, encrypted point-of-care device. "This was the best possible clinical trial design," says Dr. Ezekowitz.
A bit more than half of the patients (57 per cent) had used warfarin before entering the study, and 43 per cent were new to warfarin.
The patients were followed for 1.8 years, on average.
The study found that apixaban is effective at treating AF. It was also better at reducing all-cause mortality and was associated with less bleeding.
pecifically, apixaban reduced the chance of stroke and systemic embolism by 21 per cent, reduced major bleeding by 31 per cent, and reduced mortality, or all cause death, by 11 per cent.
Clinical trials have resulted in major advances in the management of AF over the past number of years," says Dr. Blair O'Neill, president of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society, which publishes the Canadian AF guidelines for clinicians. "Stroke is a major public health issue and in many instances as a result of AF. These novel anticoagulants are important advances and apply to most patients with AF."
Atrial fibrillation is becoming more common due to the aging of the population, not only in Canada but around the world.
It is also being seen in younger people due to lifestyle factors, especially stress. Also, it is increasing as cardiologists have become better at diagnosing the condition.
Some facts about atrial fibrillation:
Atrial fibrillation is associated with a four- to five-fold increased risk of ischemic stroke. It is responsible for 15 per cent to 20 per cent of all ischemic strokes.
Atrial fibrillation affects approximately 250,000 Canadians.
Atrial fibrillation is the most common arrhythmia managed by emergency physicians and accounts for approximately one-third of hospitalizations for cardiac rhythm disturbances.
Hospital admissions for atrial fibrillation have increased by 66 per cent over the past 20 years due to an aging population and a rising prevalence of chronic heart disease.
After the age of 55, the incidence of atrial fibrillation doubles with each decade of life.
After age 60, one-third of all strokes are caused by atrial fibrillation.
###
More information about the Canadian Cardiovascular Society guidelines for atrial fibrillation can be found at: http://www.ccsguidelineprograms.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=53&Itemid=65
Statements and conclusions of study authors are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect Foundation or CCS policy or position. The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada and the Canadian Cardiovascular Society make no representation or warranty as to their accuracy or reliability.
The Canadian Cardiovascular Society (ccs.ca) is the national voice for cardiovascular physicians and scientists. Its mission is to promote cardiovascular health and care through knowledge translation, professional development, and leadership in health policy.
The Heart and Stroke Foundation (heartandstroke.ca), a volunteer-based health charity, leads in eliminating heart disease and stroke and reducing their impact through the advancement of research and its application, the promotion of healthy living, and advocacy.
Gina Vesnaver
Curve Communications
gina@curvecommunications.com
office: 604-684-3170
cell: 604-317-6129
Congress information and media registration is at www.cardiocongress.org
After October 26, 2011, contact:
Jane-Diane Fraser
Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada
(613) 569-4361 ext 273, jfraser@hsf.ca
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
There is an increasing need for pharmacological tools for biomedical and translational research applications. The field of diversity-oriented synthesis (DOS) has been very fruitful in providing access to numerous new molecules with diverse shapes and chemical structures in order to discover candidate molecules for therapeutic use. Boston University researchers, in a paper published in the journal Nature Chemistry [23 OCTOBER 2011 | DOI: 10.1038/NCHEM.1178], present a new approach to accessing new, biorelevant structures by "remodelling" natural products. In this case, they demonstrate how the natural product derivative fumagillol can been remodelled to access a collection of new molecules using highly efficient chemical reactions.
"Overall, these studies should pave the way for work to identify pharmacological tools for use in CNS research, oncology, and as anti-infective agents," said John A. Porco, Jr., professor of chemistry at Boston University. "These studies also will enable future studies to remodel additional natural product scaffolds to access novel therapeutic agents."
In the search for novel biologically active molecules, DOS strategies break through the limitation of traditional library synthesis by sampling new chemical space. Many natural products can be regarded as useful starting points for DOS, wherein stereochemically rich core structures may be reorganized into chemotypes that are distinctly different from the parent structure. Ideally, to be suited to library applications, such transformations should be general and involve few steps.
With this objective in mind, Porco and colleagues including Professor John Snyder and postdoctoral fellow Dr. Brad Balthaser successfully remodelled the highly oxygenated natural product fumagillol in several ways using a reaction-discovery-based approach. In reactions with amines, excellent selectivity in a bis-epoxide opening/cyclization sequence was obtained using the appropriate metals catalysts forming either perhydroisoindole or perhydroisoquinoline products. Perhydroisoindoles were further remodelled to other complex structures including novel benzoxazepines.
###
Boston University Medical Center: http://www.bmc.org
Thanks to Boston University Medical Center for this article.
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Public release date: 26-Oct-2011
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